Episode VII may be priciest ‘Star Wars’ yet

The seventh “Star Wars” film, now shooting in Abu Dhabi and set for a December 2015 release, could be the priciest movie of the franchise to date.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg TV, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn estimated the budget for the untitled Episode VII will be “in the neighborhood of $175 [million] to $200 [million].”

“We need to give the audience, essentially, a full meal in return for their affection and devotion and love for these properties,” Horn told Bloomberg TV. “We don’t give budgets out. But it will be a big, tent-pole movie budget.”

If Disney
/quotes/zigman/245568/delayed/quotes/nls/disDIS sticks to that budget, Episode VII will be the most expensive Star Wars yet, topping 2005’s “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” which cost roughly $115 million. The other prequels, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones,” had similar budgets.

The original 1977 “Star Wars” cost about $11 million to make, or $43 million today when adjusted for inflation.

“Star Wars” creator George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion in 2012, but is serving as a consultant on the new films, according to Horn.

Even at $200 million, Episode VII wouldn’t crack the top 10 in terms of most expensive movies ever made. Here’s a look at 10 of the priciest films, according to stats from the Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

Editor’s Note: Chart was updated to fix the years for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” and “Avatar.”

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